


Flower Boys

by AlltheLuckinmyWorld



Category: Sorted (Website) RPF
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Poker Nights, ben and mike are idiots and their friends see right through it, ben suggests shots, bulletpoint style because writing is hard, it is really just sweet, it still reads pretty flowy though, jamie's sister's wedding, lots of facts about mint, mike singing, stupid bets, there is also quiche, they all love and respect each other, walks in the gardens, wedding au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-04-08 01:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19096894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlltheLuckinmyWorld/pseuds/AlltheLuckinmyWorld
Summary: “Cheers to that then.” Mumbles Mike under his breath, in the hopes that no one would really hear him. His hopes are shattered by Ben slightly bumping his shoulder into the taller one's, accompanying it with: “Yes, cheers to that. Today's gonna be a good day, trust me.” He looks deeply into the taller man's eyes and takes a sip of champagne. Mike can see that he is serious, he just can't really decide whether he should be happy about that or not.“What the absolute fuck was that?!” Scolds the voice in Ben's head._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.The sorted lads go to Jamie's sister's wedding and because of a drunken bet Ben and Mike have to pretend to be there as a couple. Lots of dancing, teary speeches, singing by Mike and a mystery guest, facts about mint, and, of course, quiche.





	1. Chapter 1

  * The sorted guys are invited to Jamie's sister's wedding, an occasion that they are looking forward to with varying degrees. Despite having been friends for over 20 years now, Jamie and the gang aren’t that close with most of the guests, since they're mostly the grooms family and friends and so a stupid bet comes about on an very drunken night at Barry's house.
  * They are playing poker, as they try to do about once a month, and they come up with the great idea of having a forfeit for the loser.
  * Drunk as he is, Baz suggests that the two worst people should go to Jamie's sister's wedding, which is happening the following weekend, as a pretend couple and see how many people they can possibly alienate.
  * For some reason, they all agree, and even Ben and James, who usually are the “voice of reason” within the group, can be convinced to take part after just one more shot of raspberry vodka.
  * They start the next game and, to no one's surprise at all, Mike is out of chips in almost lightning speed, a record that is even impressive for him. He chooses to blame it on the beer, which swiftly earns him the nickname “Ebbers three”.
  * After his swift exit of the game, Mike makes it his sole purpose to get the others as drunk as possible as quickly as possible. He achieves this by transforming himself into a surprisingly good barman, and mixing up various cocktails (all of which are, of course, made up and incredibly strong).
  * Despite his best efforts, the game actually goes on for a while after that, and so he busts out the guitar and plays some tunes in between getting his mates drunker and drunker.
  * Next time he looks, Barry, James and Ben are about to run out of chips. The game has become oddly tense, with Ben and Jamie constantly fiddling with their glasses, Baz holding onto his cards like his life depends on it, and James, well, James looks stoic as ever, though a tiny drop of sweat makes its way down his forehead, giving away how hard he is concentrating on not losing out.
  * Mike stops playing, making the situation appear even more sinister, and the boys can't help but break into a laugh, albeit a short one. Mike decides to pick up the guitar again and play the tune to “The Weakest Link”, which really doesn't help with anyone's poker face.
  * Jamie makes his bet and all the others have to go all in in order to call. It’s time for showdown.
  * Ben goes first, he has an Ace and a Six. This gives him a full house of aces full of sixes, not a bad start at all and Mike thinks he can see Barry go a bit pale.
  * It's Jamie's turn to show and he shows up a King and a Five, not the best hand to begin with and, realising the cards on the table aren't great either, he has to settle for a pair of Kings, technically a worse hand than Ben’s, but since he hasn't gone all in, he's not too bothered about it, he's not going to lose.
  * Next it's Barry’s turn and, slightly annoyed, he turns his cards around to reveal two Fours “Guess imma be your date then, Mike.”
  * They all look at him a bit confused and then Jamie starts to giggle: “You're an idiot, Baz.”
  * Barry is the one to be confused now. “What why? Ben has a higher full house...”
  * Ben comes to the rescue: “Yeah, you're right, but a four of a kind still beats a full house any day. Honestly Baz, we've been playing this for almost a decade now, it's about time you start memorizing the rules.” The boys laugh. “We still love you though, Baz.”
  * Barry just mumbles something into his beard and Ben shoots him a questioning look. Before he can ask what the hell he was saying though, Jamie chimes in: “Have we actually established what's going to happen if two of you are out in the same round? Because at the moment, it looks like the two of you are losing out.” He waves his cards between James and Ben.
  * “I'm not going to pretend to be in a relationship with two chefs!! I do have some dignity left, I’ll have you know.” Says Mike, slight panic coming through in his voice.
  * “Oh, why didn't you say? I hadn't noticed in the past five years.” James counters dryly. “Besides, you needn't worry about that, looks like you're only gonna go on a date with one chef.” A slight smirk plays around his lips as he turns around his own cards: two Fours, the same hand as Barry.
  * “How is that even possible?” Barry buries his head in his hands. “This is too much, imconfusddjnmesexplfjhd.”
  * “Two decks, Baz. We've been playing with two decks, it's all fine. Also, I wouldn't think James to be the one to bust out the magic tricks anyways.” Jamie says laughing, slightly side eyeing Ben.
  * “I know, I know.” Laughs Ben. “Maybe I should have used a little sleight of hand today, now I have to pretend to settle as low as a surfer dude, as if I'd ever.”
  * “Mate, you haven't settled for anything in five years, you'd be lucky for someone like me to settle for you.” Mike takes the edge off the words by saying them with a sly grin on his face.
  * “So, what happens now?” Barry asks, a slightly confused look still lingering on his face.
  * “Well, through some miracle both you and James have the exact same hand and beat out Ben, so you're gonna get the split pot, and Ben, Ben gets to go on his dream date.”
  * Ben blushes slightly and mumbles something along the lines of “oh stop it”, but no one really seems to notice or mind. Except for Mike. James catches him looking at Ben and raises one eyebrow in question. It's now Mike's turn to blush and he quickly stands up and goes to the kitchen to get some more drinks. “None of that rum mixing!” Barry shouts after him, who seems to have missed the exchange entirely, being too preoccupied focusing on his newly gained pile of chips.
  * After that, the game finishes quite quickly as James hustles Barry out of his newly found fortune within the next two rounds, and the three of them watch a quick but intense showdown between Jamie and James from the sofa. As it turns out, James is in a real hustling mood that night and manages to get Jamie to an all-in battle within the round. Jamie shows first, three Kings, a good hand. With complete and utter calmness James shows his hand. Two Aces. That, combined with the Ace on the table, makes him the surprise winner of the night.
  * They all laugh at Jamie's face when he realises what just happened and Ben leans over to Mike: “When was the last time Jamie lost again? Last summer?” “Yeah, about that time.” Laughs Mike and adds in James's direction: “Well played man, finally the angry Scots face paid off, didn't it?”
  * James could be offended, but he decides not to be, and answers with a wide grin “It sure did, man.”




	2. Chapter 2

  * It's a week later and Mike has almost forgotten about the bet when he receives a text from Ben: “So what are you gonna wear to the wedding? Can't have my date turning up in something that clashes with my suit 😂”
  * He smiles and swiftly replies: “I was planning on wearing my blue floral suit with a white shirt. Is that okay for you, hun?”
  * Ben smiles, as he takes another sip of his glass of red wine, and types: “That's perfect, darling, I'm going to wear my grey suit with the blush shirt. We're going to look stunning together 😘”
  * He puts his phone down and swivels his wine in the glass, looking at the red liquid turning softly, and thinking to himself that he's actually quite looking forward to the day now. He blushes at his own thoughts and quickly turns his attention to the music as he realizes what his brain has just come up with.
  * Back at Mike's, his reaction is no different as he reads Ben's cheeky response, though he would obviously never admit that. It's not like he has a crush on the chef, but he does feel a bit more deeply about him than he does the others. He blames that on them just having been the closest over the years. After all, Ben is the one he comes to with all his troubles first, albeit for Ben's rationale, when he pesters him with yet another crush he's picked up on the tube.
  * The day of the wedding is a beautiful summer day, not a cloud in sight, and, for once, all the boys turn up on time. They've left their usual casual attire at home and managed to brush up quite nicely. Ben and Mike turn up wearing their arranged outfits, Jamie wears his own wedding suit, a classic dark blue with a red tie and Barry and James have opted for classic black suits with a pale blue and lavender shirt respectively.
  * “Nice partner look.” Mike says as he steps out of the car and spots his friends, who are already waiting for him.
  * “You're the one to talk.” Answers Barry and James adds in Barry’s direction: “I bet they've coordinated their outfits.”
  * Mike is about to protest as Ben steps forward next to him and says: “Of course we have, can't have my date turning up in his bright orange holiday suit, can I?” As he says that, he casually puts his arm around Mike's waist. Everyone looks confused for a second but then the bizarreness of the situation catches up with them and they burst out into collective laughter.
  * “This is going to be brilliant.” Grins Jamie and rubs his hands together in childish glee. “Alright, shall we go inside? I think the ceremony is going to start in a couple of minutes, and, for once, I don't want to steal the show by coming in late.” They all snicker and shake their heads at the poor attempt of an innuendo and make their way into the church.
  * Everything is decorated beautifully with wild flowers and they admire the setup as they make their way through the aisle to find some seats. “Seems like you didn't just coordinate with me.” Ben says to Mike with a soft smile as they sit down.
  * Mike doesn't know how to respond to that, so he decides not to and just smiles, what he hopes is, wickedly with one eyebrow slightly raised at Ben. The whole situation is a little more nerve-wrecking for him than he cares to admit. Not because he's pretending to be in a relationship with a man, most people have known that he is queer since he was a teenager, and even if they didn't, he has no problem reminding them of it, no, for some strange reason he feels like something big is going to happen today, and it isn't the wedding. Even though that is obviously big too. He sneaks a look at Ben, who is sitting to his left and looks perfectly confident and comfortable as he is chatting away to James about some recipe they are developing. _"He does look nice in that suit."_ Even though they are mocking him constantly for it, the blush pink of his shirt goes perfectly with his skin tone and the light grey of the suit rounds it off really well. Mike can't help but notice the cuff-links on the shirt, a set of cards. Whether he chose them as a reminder of his love for magic, or because of the poker night Mike doesn't know, but it makes him smile regardless.
  * Next to him, Ben is trying really hard to concentrate on the conversation with James, but his mind keeps wandering to the man sat to his right. It wasn't really a secret to most of his friends, that he's always found Mike attractive and has developed a soft spot for him over the past couple of years, but the sorted guys don't really know about it, and he thinks it'd better stay that way. No reason to make anyone feel awkward over a little fondness. Well, James knows of course, but then James knows everything he thinks, because he can read in him like a book, and he has never been able to hide the secret looks from the fellow chef. Annoyingly so, the other chef seems to have noticed that he is lost in thought and looks at him questioningly. Apparently, he has missed his cue: “Huh?” He asks, hoping to be able to brush it off as not having heard him over the noise in the background. “Lost in thought, are we?” Asks James with a slight grin playing around his lips. “You know full well I am.” Responds Ben. There is no harshness in either of their voices. “It's gonna work out, promise.” Says James smiling and there is nothing but honest belief in his voice. He squeezes Ben's hand reassuringly. The music starts playing, so Ben owes him an answer, but he smiles thankfully at his friend as they rise.
  * The ceremony is beautiful and goes by relatively uneventful. Unknown to the other, they both try really hard to ignore the tingling in their hands as they brush together every time one of them moves, and actually manage to keep focused on the marrying couple for most of the ceremony.
  * After the ceremony, they step out into the warm summer sun and Ben shivers a little as he feels the cold leave his body. Instinctively, Mike puts his arm around the chef's back and asks: “Everything alright?”
  * Ben notices the slightly concerned crease on his date's face and hurries to reassure him with a warm smile: “All good, just happy to be out in the sun again. It was a bit chilly in there.” “Why didn't you say anything?” “What would you have done, got me a blanket?” Mike looks a bit sheepish and then decides to settle for the truth. “No, but I could've put my arm around you or something, idiot. Don't want my date freezing to death before the party has even begun.” “Alright, alright.” Ben laughs, raising his arms in defeat. “Next time I'll say something. For now, shall we find the others and get to the venue? I really fancy some bubbles.” And with that he walks off, only turning around to take Mike's hand to drag him after him and not lose him in the crowd.
  * After a minute or so, they find their friends at the edge of the crowd, and though there is no reason for Ben to hold Mike's hand anymore, he doesn’t seem like he is going to let go, so Mike decides to go with it (encouraged by a little _“What the hell.”_ from his inner voice) and interlaces his fingers into Ben's (for comfort, obviously).
  * Ben notices Mike's hand moving and anticipates the loss of skin against his, but is pleasantly surprised when he feels Mike interlocking his fingers with his own. Instinctively he squeezes his hand a little, not daring to look over, and instead concentrates really hard on the flower pot across the street. Bluebells, he thinks.
  * For once, the lads seem to have decided not to make any stupid remarks, whether that is not to compromise the premise of the bet, or just not to make them feel weirder than they already do, shall remain unknown, but it is evident that the both of them are thankful for it. James starts talking about how nice the ceremony was and they all fall into easy chatter while they are waiting for their taxi.
  * Ben catches James's eye and can't help but smile at the look on his best friend’s face, a look that could only be interpreted as _“I told you so”_. Unbeknownst to the both of them, that wasn't going to be the last time that day that James was going to look at his mate like that.




	3. Chapter 3

  * The five of them manage to share a single taxi to the venue. That, of course, means a lot of tight squeezing, and Barry somehow ending up sprawled across James, Mike and Ben on the back seat. This moment of innocent silliness seems to be enough to take Ben and Mike out of their own heads and so they all just enjoy the banter in the taxi, all while trying very hard “not” to drop Barry onto the taxi floor.
  * After a slightly bumpy ride to the beautiful garden venue, they all spread out for a bit, Jamie trying to find his sister to congratulate her, James finding the loo and Barry on the hunt for some bubbles for them all.
  * Left behind, Ben and Mike fall into a comfortable silence, only to be broken by Mike after a couple of minutes. “We're doing well so far, aren't we?” Ben squints slightly in the sun as he turns his head to face Mike. “I suppose we are, yeah, though I'm sure the boys have some weird stuff planned for us, they always have.” He laughs.
  * _“He looks adorable!”_ Thinks Mike and immediately scolds his inner voice for thinking that. _“It's true though!!”_ protests the voice, and Mike lets out a sigh. This was going to be interesting.
  * Ben looks at him questioningly. _"Great, thanks, now he thinks he's done something wrong, very helpful."_ “Nothing”, he quickly responds, “just thinking of that edit for next week.” “Stop thinking about work for one minute, Mike. You have all of next week to worry about that. For now,”, he casually puts his arm around Mike's waist and turns him around, “I think Baz has managed to get us some booze.” “Finally.” Ben chuckles. Oh, how he loves to make Ben chuckle. _“Careful now, that's a dangerous route you're going down.”_ Whispers the voice in his head. _“Since when are you the reasonable one?”_ Mike questions, but the voice doesn’t enlighten him with an answer.
  * Just then, Barry arrives back with a tray of five champagne flutes, which he is balancing surprisingly well, and has evidently nicked from one of the waitresses. “Jamie and James are waiting over there, by the entrance.” He nods in the vague direction of the tent. “Because apparently food is served soon and Jamie can't wait.” He laughs and turns around to join their friends. “Come on.” He calls over his shoulder.
  * When they finally join their friends, they can't help but notice Jamie's nervous look. “You alright, mate?” Asks Ben, slight concern forming on his face. “Am I alright. Pfff, of course I am. Just not massively excited about the fact that my sister actually managed to rope me into giving a speech, that beast. Gotta love her though, she's definitely the sensible one in the family. I mean, imagine she had chosen Tom to do it, that would have been a disaster.” A dry laugh leaves his mouth. It quickly turns into a real one as the others join in and remember Tom's speech at Jamie's wedding. It wasn't bad, per se, they just couldn't understand a word because Tom had gotten absolutely hammered in the lead up to his speech. They were sure it was nice and heartfelt though, and they did all have a laugh.
  * “Yeah, you're gonna do better than Tom.” Reassures James. “Bubbles?” Asks Barry hopefully, clearly wanting to get rid of the tray he is still holding. “Bubbles.” Confirms Jamie and starts handing out glasses to everyone.
  * Jamie raises his glass and the rest follow his example. “To love; new and old and freshly bonded.” “To love.” Repeat the others after him and clink their glasses. “Very poetic, mate.” Nods Barry. “I know! I came up with it all by myself.” Grins Jamie happily, not able to erase the slightly proud undertone from his voice.
  * “Cheers to that then.” Mumbles Mike under his breath, in the hopes that no one will really hear him. His hopes are shattered by Ben slightly bumping his shoulder into the taller one's, accompanying it with: “Yes, cheers to that. Today's gonna be a good day, trust me.” He looks deeply into the taller man's eyes and takes a sip of champagne. Mike can see that he is serious, he just can't really decide whether he should be happy about that or not.
  * _“What the absolute fuck was that?!”_ Scolds the voice in Ben's head. _“Don't think we're being obvious enough already, are we? But half a sip of bubbles and all the goddamn caution gets thrown into the wind, does it. Don't you wanna propose to him right on the spot? It's so lovely out here after all.”_ Ben decides to ignore the screaming voice in his head, it is massively overreacting. After all, he only said that it was going to be a good day, and what's wrong with that? Before his inner voice can indulge in an answer explaining exactly what was wrong with that, Tom comes around the corner and calls them all inside: “Dinner starts in five, you guys better come inside, or my sister might stab Jamie with a fork, because she thinks he bailed.” “Oh, we can't risk that, of course.” Replies Ben dryly, and so the laughing and chatting group follows Tom inside the venue.
  * Inside, the venue is decorated, again, with the same wild flowers the church has already been filled with, and at least a dozen round white tables are spread around it. “You guys are over there.” Says Tom, and points to a table at the far end of the room. “Right next to the happy couple, so you don't have to walk so far for your speech bro.” He adds, and with a wink he is gone.
  * Barry is the first to arrive at the table and after having looked at it for a few seconds he exclaims in fake shock: “Oh no, we can't be having that. What a disaster!” He puts his hand through his hair. Almost immediately James appears next to him to see what has caused his mate's reaction. He chuckles as he spots the table cards. “No, that's not right, we can't have the happy couple sitting apart.” He picks up Ben's card and moves it a place to the left, next to Mike's, and picks up Jamie's card in return, which he now places next to his own. “Fixed it.” He says into the group, with a wide smile on his face, barely hiding the proud undertone in his voice. He blissfully ignores the helpless look Ben shoots him, when he realizes that he is no longer going to sit next to his best mate.
  * They all sit down and Ben, still feeling betrayed - after all, he could have moved the cards in the other direction just as easily - shoots James another look, that hopefully conveys something along the lines of _“what the fuck, dude?”_. James doesn't seem to be bothered by that in the slightest and just smiles back one of his James smiles.
  * _“Great.”_ The voice in Ben's head remarks cynically. He reaches for the bottle of wine on the table. “Wine anyone?”




	4. Chapter 4

  * Dinner actually turns out to be excellent, and not even the two chefs seem to have anything to complain about. After dessert, it is finally time to relax a little and listen to the speeches of the bride, groom, and their families. Well, two of them relax, two pretend, and one becomes increasingly nervous.
  * “You're going to do great, Jay.” Barry tries to reassure Jamie and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You practically do this every day in front of a camera; you'll be absolutely fine.” “Yeah, but these people are all real, Baz. Like, _real_ real.” “You're gonna smash it. And now shush, or I'm sure your sister will come back to that stabbing idea Tom mentioned.”
  * Ben tries to relax in his chair. Dinner has been absolutely fantastic and the two glasses of wine that have accompanied it have massively helped with his nerves. _“See, this is all going well.”_ Chirps his inner voice. _“It's not going terribly.”_ He admits and puts an arm around Mike's chair as he leans back.
  * Mike looks over and smiles at him. “Enjoyed dinner?” “Yeah, was great. You too?” “Mhm.” Mike wants to reply properly but the groom's dad has just gotten up, and so the speech extravaganza begins.
  * Mike doesn't care much for speeches of any sort anyways, and not really knowing any of the people speaking doesn't really do much to keep his attention focused on what people are saying. Instead, his brain decides to focus on the arm around his chair. Ben's arm. His thumb has started to draw little patterns on Mike's back now, the movement so subtle, that he is sure no one else is going to notice. Still, he has to try really hard not to freak out. _“This is happening!!”_ Shouts the little voice in his head and he cannot quite make out whether it sounds excited or terrified. Probably a bit of both.
  * Ben tries to match his interior to his relaxed exterior. He is semi-successful; his heart is racing like a Duracell bunny, but at least his stupid voice seems to shut up if he keeps feeding it alcohol regularly and tries to listen to the speeches. _“He's not moved away, you know.”_ Ben stifles a sigh. _“That means he's probably enjoying this.” “Or, he's just a really good actor, well, even a below average actor could pull this off.”_ Ben thinks cynically and quickly takes another sip of his wine before his voice has the chance to reply with more ludicrous ideas.
  * Apparently, the speech is over - Ben and Mike judge this from everyone starting to clap - not that they have been paying much real attention, and so Ben reluctantly moves his arm from round Mike's back and gets on his feet with the rest of the room to cheers the happy couple. 
  * Jamie grabs his notes from the table and makes his way to the microphone, not without turning around and smiling weakly at them. They all mumble encouraging words, and James adds: “It's gonna work out, buddy. Promise.” There it is again, thinks Ben, that line. _“Can James even say anything else? Or does he just know more than we do? Is he the real Oracle of Delphi?”_ Clearly, his inner voice is getting a little tipsy now. 
  * He doesn't have much time to indulge this thought, as Jamie stumbles against Ben's chair, trying to free himself a way to the front. As he does so, he chuckles and has a wicked glinting in his eyes all of a sudden. Ben doesn't pay much attention to it, he's sure Jamie is about to embarrass his sister a lot, and what could bring Jamie more joy than a little bit of mischief? 
  * They all sit back down again, and somehow, Ben's chair seems to be much closer to Mike’s than it was before. He's about to rectify this situation, when he feels a gentle hand on his thigh, holding him back. He looks at Mike, but Mike is staring strictly ahead, pretending (or is he really?) to listen to the opening words of Jamie's speech. Ben listens for a helpful remark from his inner voice, but there is none. _“Ah, fainted.”_ He thinks as he places his arm around Mike's chair again and starts listening to Jamie, who, as far as he can tell, is about to tell the story of when Ellie fell into a building site on her way to school once, and had to be rescued by the principal. 
  * Contrary to Ben's voice, Mike's voice is erratic. It has been muttering _“coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool”_ for a solid minute after he stopped Ben from moving away, though now it has resorted to, what he can only describe as, jumping around in his head. He desperately tries to keep his hand on Ben's thigh still, afraid that, if he moves it even slightly, Ben will realise his mistake and shoo him away. His voice is still jumping, and he is slowly getting annoyed by it. “Concentrate!” He accidentally hisses out loud. Gladly, no one seems to have heard him, and everyone still seems compelled by Jay's speech. Jay apparently has moved on from school, and has now started to talk about the Ibiza holiday they have all had together about ten years ago. All of them got hammered that particular night - and they have had to piece the night together the next morning from their varying memories - but there was one thing they all collectively remembered: Jay's sister desperately trying to order sambuca from the DJ booth for about five minutes, before the DJ finally showed some mercy and let her know that he's not a barman. There is even a video of that somewhere. Mike chuckles to himself; what a night that had been.
  * Jamie is slowly coming to the end of the speech and, suddenly, he sounds a lot more heartfelt. “You really are a great big sister, thanks for saving my ass from our parents so many times...” the crowd laughs “and if Chris ever starts to get on your nerves, just let me know and I'll send Ben over with a detailed history of the WI. With a PowerPoint presentation!” Loud cheering erupts from the sorted table. “I love you to death...” he chokes up a little bit on his own words and, if you squint, you can see that his eyes are a bit shinier than they usually are. “And this is a beautiful wedding and I hope each of your days is just as happy as this one. To the happy couple: Ellie and Chris!” He raises his glass as the room echoes. “To Ellie and Chris!”
  * After the official part of the wedding is over, the guys reform at the bar. “Great speech, Jay.” Barry says and gives him a big hug. “Yea, mate, well done.” Agrees James, and the others nod in agreement. “To Jay.” Barry raises his glass and the others cheers him. “Are you even allowed to drink that yet?” Jamie asks, looking at Barry's pretentious glass. “Oi! At least I'm not copying Ebbers.” He replies, nodding in the direction of the gin and tonic in Mike's hands. “But that's only because you already _are_ Ebbers two, there's nothing more to copy for you, mate.” Comes the quick reply from Mike. He earns a loud “Uhhhh” from his friends. Before Barry has a chance to reply, the music changes.
  * _“Best Song Ever”_ starts playing in the background and suddenly James gets all giddy and excited. “Dancing time!!” “Nooo, nononono!” Comes the collective response from the group. “Yes!!” Insists James, no less excited, and herds them onto the dance-floor. He immediately starts dancing wildly, _and well_ , while the others stand around him and, sort of reluctantly, move their feet and shoulders to the music, in order not to completely stand out from the crowd. “Come on guys!!” James insists and takes Barry by the hands to make him move a little bit more, spilling some of the precious craft beer in the process. Somehow, his enthusiasm catches on and the boys begin to loosen up a bit. 
  * Within the next couple of songs, all predispositions against dancing are forgotten, and the group are dancing together and enjoying themselves, like in the good old days. Drinks keep flowing, the dinner jackets get chucked aside after a while, and then, to no one’s particular surprise, it's Ben who suggests that shots are probably a great idea. Turns out, shots are an excellent idea, well, shot, singular, for Barry, because even after being friends for near enough 20 years and numerous nights out, he still can't hold his alcohol. At least his dancing has improved over time. Or at least so he thinks.




	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter there is an accompanying playlist on Spotify called “Flower Boys” that you can listen to while reading this if you want. It isn’t a necessity though. Enjoy!  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5RggHyrXGHjhBfkBT8NDzx?si=CrL7Aw6XTrWObQU8LWvecQ

  * It's getting a bit late now and more and more people are dancing to the music the live band provides. The band has just started playing their version of _“_ _Best Day of my Life_ _”_ when Baz turns around to Mike, grabs him by the shoulders and half shouts at him: “You need to get up there and play something!!” He sounds very excited. Mike, however, isn't. “Nononono I can't, this band is really good and there are lots of people and what would I even play and no bec...” he is cut short by an announcement of the lead singer of the band: “We're going to take a little break now…” He is interrupted by widespread booing from the crowd. He laughs: “I know, I know, but fear not, because I've heard that a certain Mike Huttlestone has volunteered to take over the stage.” Mike frowns and lets his gaze wander over the crowd. It doesn't take long until he spots Jamie waving and grinning at him from where he's standing next to the stage. _“_ _Volunteered. Funny. Really funny._ _”_ Thinks Mike to himself. “Go on.” Barry encourages him and, not so gently, pushes him in the direction of the stage. Helplessly, he turns around to Ben who just shrugs and smiles into his gin tonic. “Great.” Mike mumbles. “You're all really good friends, you know. Wonderful people.” Ben chuckles. All the frustration leaves Mikes body in a flash. Oh, how he loves to make that man laugh _._ _“_ _God, what are you thinking Mike._ _”_
  * He makes his way to the stage accompanied by clapping and cheering from the crowd. The singer hands him his acoustic guitar and makes his way off to the bar. “You got this, mate.” 
  * Mike steps up to the mic: “Alright folks, since I've been so _kindly_ asked by my friends to play for you,” He shoots Jamie and Barry an evil look and earns a chuckle from the crowd “let's play some tunes”. As the crowd cheers, he racks his brain as to what to play. He starts playing the first few tunes of _“_ _Here Comes the Sun_ _”_. “Here comes the sun duhduhduhduh, here comes the sun...” The first few lines are a little shaky but soon enough he starts enjoying himself and becomes a lot more confident. A thought forms in his head. _“_ _If I have to do this now, I might as well have a little fun with it._ _”_ He smiles. As he finishes, the crowd cheers loudly. _“_ _Oh good, they're enjoying this._ _”_ He thinks and starts playing the first few tunes of _“_ _Riptide_ _”_ _,_ not the most inventive, but he could probably play this song in his sleep and he needs time to think. When his fingers play the final riffs of the song on the guitar, he has made his plan.
  * _One more song and then it's on._ _”_ He plays _“_ _Sunflower_ _”_ _,_ it's a sweet little song from a film he saw on Netflix the other night, and he thinks it's quite fitting for the occasion. While he's playing, he scans the crowd for Ben. After all, there is no point in doing this if he is not there anymore. Thankfully, Ben is exactly where he left him and is looking at him with a wide smile on his face. _“_ _Honestly, that face is going to be my end one day, how can someone just radiate such happiness like that?_ _”_
  * This time, he doesn't stop playing between songs, afraid that he would just stop and not go through with his plan. Slowly, the tune turns into _“_ _Brown Eyed Girl_ _”_ and he starts singing: “Hey, where did we go? Days when the rains came; down in the hollow; playin' a new game; laughing and a running hey, hey; skipping and a jumping; in the misty morning fog with; our hearts a thumpin' and you; my brown-eyed girl; you, my brown-eyed girl…” As he sings the first few lines of the chorus, he locks eyes with Ben, making sure that he gets it.
  * Oh, and how Ben gets it. When the first tunes of the song had started playing, he thought to himself: _“_ _Coincidence, it's pure coincidence. Don't get your hopes up._ _”_ But then Mike scans the crowd for him and locks eyes with him as he sings the chorus. _“_ _Okay, nope, maybe it's not a coincidence. But, surely, Mike could never, like, like him like that. Or could he?_ _”_ He doesn't take his eyes of Mike for even one second and Mike holds his gaze the entire time.
  * _“Well, here goes nothing._ _”_ Thinks Mike as he finishes the song and goes straight into the next. “I keep seeing you lately; singing your favourite songs out loud.” It's as if all the lights suddenly went low and, for him, there is no one in the room but Ben when he sings the next lines. “And it's making me go crazy; wish that I could take you out.” Even from that distance he can see Ben blushing. “Oh, I can't afford it; but I can write a song and record it; give it to you and wait and hope that…” Is Ben trying to sneakily wipe away a tear there? Oh God, he hasn't taken it too far, has he? He is beginning to panic slightly as Ben starts moving in the crowd. _“_ _Oh God, oh God, oh God, he's gonna leave, isn't he? Shitshitshitshit, I fucked up, oh, I fucked up so hard._ _”_
  * “Maybe you could call me? Call me, won't you? Tell me that you want me; and maybe I could play for you; play for you tonight.” Ben barely registers the other people in the crowd as he makes his way towards the stage. He doesn't even see the encouraging smile James throws him, all he has eyes for is the man on the stage, who… is singing a love song for him? He can't help himself; he sheds a tear or two, but he keeps smiling, the last thing he wants is Mike worrying that he's done something wrong. 
  * For the rest of the song Ben stays as close to the stage as he can without actually being in the front row. He still can't believe it. _“_ _Ohgodohgodohgod_ _”_ is the only thing his otherwise so witty inner voice can come up with.
  * The song finishes, even though Mike doesn't want it to, and the crowd, who clearly noticed that something special has happened just there, in front of their very eyes, go absolutely mental. Mike looks up from Ben as if he just realised that they weren't alone, and catches the venue emcee showing him that he's got one more song to play before the band are coming back. _“_ _Perfect._ _”_ He thinks.
  * “It was lovely playing for you all, but I'm afraid we've come to the end of my set.” The crowd boos enthusiastically and he chuckles. “But, I think, I have one more song they're going to let me play.” Cheers erupt. “For this last song I would like to ask a special guest onto the stage. Please welcome the master chef and secret guitar talent to the stage: TV’s Ben Ebbrell.” He grins at Ben as the crowd start cheering.
  * “ _Surely not._ _”_ Thinks Ben as he hears Mike's speech, but deep down he already knows that he's going to be asked onto the stage. He even knows which song they're going to play, it's the only one they both know off the top of their head. They used to play it as a joke in college, but now he's not so sure if it is still a joke. 
  * He makes his way up the steps to the stage and takes the guitar Mike is handing him. “You still know it?” “Of course, I do.” Ben smiles back at him. “Let's go then.” and as he turns to the mic he adds for the crowd: “Our last song for the night is going to be _“_ _Suddenly I see_ _”_ _._ I hope you've enjoyed this set and feel free to sing along.” And then they start playing.
  * Neither of them believes in magic, not really anyways, but what happens next can only be described as magical. They've played this song hundreds if not thousands of times before, but this time it's different. 
  * “Her face is a map of the world” Mike starts, and then Ben joins in “is a map of the world”. They sing the first verse and as they come to the chorus something changes. They sing their lines and the room erupts in joy. 
  * “Suddenly I see (suddenly I see); this is what I wanna be; suddenly I see, (suddenly I see); why the hell it means so much to me, (Suddenly I see)” They look at each other as they play their living souls out and lean towards the microphone they're sharing. Ben sings the first few lines of the bridge and only has eyes for Mike. “And she’s taller than most; and she's looking at me; I can see her eyes looking from the page of a magazine; oh, she makes me feel like I could be a tower; a big strong tower, yeah!” Mike joins in and they sing the remaining lines together. “The power to be; the power to give; the power to see.” At this moment it feels like everything is right with the world. They're not playing for the crowd anymore, they're playing for each other.
  * Down on the dance floor James, Jamie and Barry are standing together and watching their friends in awe. As the finishing tunes play and the crowd goes crazy for Ben and Mike, Jamie is the first to break the silence. “That was... incredible.” “I don't even know what to say,” agrees Barry “but I feel like I've witnessed something special just now.” “Do you think they've finally figured it out?” Asks Jamie to no one in particular. “I would bloody well hope so, it's about time.” Answers Barry still looking at the stage where his friends are now handing their instruments back to the band. James just watches the exchange in silence. Of course, they noticed, they're not blind after all. He's glad for it, and happy for his best mate, who does seem to have finally realised that his feelings were not as unrequited as he thought they were. He keeps all this to himself, feeling like everything has been said anyways, and just smiles one of his James smiles.
  * Just as they're making their way down from the stage and towards their friends, the band starts playing _“_ _At Last_ _”_ and in a spur of the moment idea Mike turns round to Ben and asks “May I have this dance?” He even does a little curtsy with it, and Ben can't help the small giggle that escapes him. “I would be honoured”. He says with a smile and the smallest inkling of a bow. Mike puts his hands around Ben's neck, who in turn puts his hands on the taller man's hips. They start moving slowly as the dance floor fills with couples. “So...” starts Mike softly “is this still a fake date?” “Mmh, I don't think so.” Replies the chef. He doesn't sound very bothered about that. “Good.” Smiles Mike and pulls Ben closer, who puts his head against his chest. “Very good.”
  * They dance in silence and just enjoy each other's presence. As the song finishes and the band starts playing more upbeat music again, Ben looks up at Mike and just asks: “Air?” Mike nods in response and Ben takes his hand and leads him off the dance floor and out into the gardens. 
  * Once outside Ben reaches behind a nearby plant pot housing a miniature palm tree and pulls out a bottle of prosecco and two glasses. Mike shakes his head and laughs. “You planned this?” “I'm a man of contingency, Mike, who knows what might have happened. I could have ended up out here alone and I wouldn't want to spend that time without a drink.” With a twinkling in his eyes he adds: “I'm glad I'm not out here alone though.” “Yeah, I feel like drinking prosecco outside a wedding venue on your own wouldn't be an ideal end to the night.” “No, this is far better.” Ben agrees as he hands Mike one of the glasses. “To your great performance in there.” “To ours. I feel like we've never played better.” “To us then.” They clink their glasses together and take a sip. “What a beautiful night.” Ben states and leans into Mike. “It really is.” Mike agrees looking at the sky and then at Ben. “There is one thing it's missing though.” “Mhh?” Mike carefully puts his glass down on the brim of the plant pot and gently turns the chef around, so he's facing him. He slowly leans down to him and leans his forehead against Ben's, almost waiting for him to pull away. He doesn't, instead he closes the small gap between them with a gentle kiss. 
  * Mike melts into the touch, and for once his annoying inner voice seems to have nothing to say. Maybe it fainted. Either way Mike is not too bothered about it, not bothered at all in fact, because this, this just feels like home.
  * Ben leans into the taller man and closes the gap between their lips. He expected fireworks of some sort but there are none. Instead what he gets is an overwhelming sense of comfort, almost like coming home. _“_ _This is right._ _”_ He thinks to himself and smiles into the kiss. 
  * When the kiss ends, they stay closely hugged together and simply enjoy each other’s company as they look out into the sky. After a while Ben begins to chuckle quietly and says: “James was right after all, I guess.” “Huh?” “He did say it was all going to work out, and, for once, I'm glad he's right.” “I hate to agree with James, but I feel like he got us there.”




	6. Chapter 6

  * They are wandering around the gardens, hand in hand, admiring the different flowers and herbs, the comfortable silence only interrupted by Ben's occasional explanations and whispered histories.
  * He is about to admit to Mike why mint is his favourite herb and elaborate on its diversity when he stops himself mid-sentence. “Why did you stop?” Asks Mike curiously. Ben blushes slightly and tries to avert Mike's gaze by looking at the top of his shoes. _“_ _Very interesting stitching. Bold choice the black thread with the brown leather. All my life I've been told not to mix those two, but it seems to work. Maybe..._ _”_ “Hello?” Mike waves his free hand in front of Ben's face. “You still in there?” Ben blushes a little more and quietly explains to his shoes: “Yeah, sorry, I.. uh... I just realised that I was talking too much about boring stuff again and... uh... I don't want to bore you with that stuff, and I know that you and the guys don't really care that much for all...” The words flood out of Ben’s mouth like a waterfall. “Ok, imma stop you right there. Ben, love… is it okay if I call you that?” Ben nods at his shoes and a tiny smile plays around his lips. “Good.” Mike smiles to himself, but quickly returns to being serious again. “Love, can you look at me for a second?” Ben raises his head a fraction and meets Mike's loving gaze with shy eyes.
  * “Nothing you say could ever bore me. Okay, let's rephrase that, it is a little bit boring when we have to talk about who needs to order new hand towels next, but since you’re mostly the person who has to do that, I'm going to let it slide.” Ben chuckles at the statement, but Mike remains serious apart from a quick smile that brushes across his face as he sees Ben light up a little. “Seriously, you make talking about spreadsheets sound like the most important thing in the world. You are so passionate about everything and I love hearing it. Even if I can't follow your thoughts sometimes, I love it when your entire face lights up over talking about butter. Like, I've never met a person who gets so excited talking about butter!” Ben winces a little, so Mike quickly takes Ben’s other hand in his as well. “No, it's the best thing in the world! You make _me_ excited about butter. Or mint, or quiche, or whatever it is that day. I love listening to your little rants and explanations and histories when I edit the vlogs, and it breaks my heart a little bit every time I have to cut them out or speed them up, because no one will ever get to see you light up like the goddamn sun. I know we give you a lot of shtick for it, but did I know that Pluto's wife transformed a hated rival into a plant of mint two weeks ago? No. But now it feels like the most important thing in the world to me, and that's because of you.” He finishes his speech with a loving smile. 
  * “You listen to all of that?” Ben looks a little shocked. “Every last bit. Did you know that the ancient Greeks and Romans rubbed their tables with mint before the guests arrived?” Ben manages to chuckle and look at Mike in awe at the same time. “That never made it into a video.” “I know, but it made it in here.” Mike points his finger at his own head. “Because of you.” He moves his hand and stubs Ben in the chest.
  * Ben is stunned into silence and when he starts speaking again, he still doesn’t sound entirely convinced by what Mike has just told him. “So… it's okay if I tell you facts about mint?” He asks, still a little shyness and insecurity playing along in his voice. Mike puts his hands on either side of the smaller man's face and looks at him sternly. “Please never stop telling me facts about mint.” He seals the words in with a gentle kiss. He swears he can feel the chef relax and the storm in his mind calm as they stand there, interlocked.
  * Ben reaches for Mike's hand and intertwines their fingers firmly, leaning into the taller man, as if to eradicate any space between them. They stand side by side like this before Ben starts speaking softly. “So, in Roman times mint was seen as a symbol for hospitality and wisdom. Pliny, an author of the time, even said the very smell of it reanimates the spirit.” He turns his head slightly and smiles at Mike. He meets eyes that show nothing but love and admiration. “Very fitting for you then.” “Oh, stop it.” Ben blushes again, but this time he's laughing as well. “Never!” Mike grins wickedly and leans in for a quick peck, before he leads the chef on through the garden. 
  * Eventually, they circle back round to the tent and find their mates sitting outside on a picnic blanket, looking like they're having the time of their lives. They are laughing and talking and Jamie seems to be telling a wild story judging by the wide movements of his arms. 
  * Ben and Mike walk towards them, still hand in hand, after all, these are their friends, they trust them with anything. Barry is the first one to spot them. “There you are! We've almost been worrying about you guys.” “Well, I'm glad you didn't get worried then.” Laughs Ben and shoos James over a little bit, so himself and Mike can sit down. “Look, I found quiche in the kitchen.” Says James to Ben and produces and entire quiche from behind his back. “I'm pretty sure that was meant for breakfast.” Laughs Ben again. “Well, it's not now, also this is still warm, so stop complaining Ebbers.” He playfully shoves the fellow chef over with his shoulder. “Wasn't complaining.” The chef clarifies laughing, a slice of quiche already in his hand. “Delicious” he adds, and the entire group break out in laughter. 
  * After they've spent about an hour just sitting there, demolishing the quiche and drinking the vast amount of drinks Jamie just seems to produce out of thin air, Jamie slaps his hand against his forehead and exhales, as if he's just remembered that two plus two makes four. “You alright?” Comes a semi-concerned response from the group. “You owe me!” He points his finger at Barry. “What?” Baz responds with the usual slightly confused undertone. “You owe me 20 bucks and a steak.” He throws a leftover piece of quiche at Barry. “Hey!” Complain both Barry and Ben, albeit for different reasons. “If anything, shouldn't you be throwing that at Ben?” He glances over at the chef, who is comfortably leaning against Mike's chest and scouting the situation with an amused look on his face. “Plus, I still don't know what you're on... Ohhh…” He looks back at Jamie, who is now grinning widely. “Yeah, okay, that's fair.” He laughs, fishes his wallet out, and hands Jamie a 20-pound-note, while looking at Mike and Ben. 
  * Mike is the first of the other three to piece two and two together and realise what just happened. “You two bet on us?” He half laughs. “Of course, we did!” Jamie replies without the slightest bit of shame in his voice. “You two were dancing around each other like blind teenagers for ages, it's about bloody time.” “No, we weren't!” Mike and Ben exclaim in unison. The others laugh. “Yes, you were!” Ben looks for help from James’ direction. “Now that I can say it: yes, you were.” He adds to Baz’s verdict. “So, when we got invited to Ellie's wedding, Jay and I put a bet on, about how long you two would last. I gave you a week after the wedding and Jay didn't even give you 24 hours.” He laughs. “And then obviously the poker bet came in perfectly.” 
  * “You guys are unbelievable.” Ben states, shaking his head. There is no harshness in his voice, just disbelief. “You could at least have helped us out a bit!” “Why do you think you've had so much airtime recently?” Asked Barry cheekily. “Hey!” Comes the quick response from Mike, accompanied by a friendly punch in the shoulder. Barry just laughs “See? Worked.” They all chime in. James uses this moment to lean towards Ben and whisper, so that only he can hear: “Told you so.”



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> This chapter was definitely my favourite to write; be nice to your friends, who are nerds and get excited over little things. Listen to them and don't put them down for it, coming from a fellow nerd, let me tell you, it means the world to them. And to my fellow nerds out there: don't be afraid to get excited over things. Excitement is contagious, and we should all be getting more excited about the little things in life. 
> 
> Take care and good luck. x


End file.
